Link between dietary changes and tinnitus management

I congratulate Dr Wu and colleagues for their very good and practical clinical review of tinnitus management in the July 2018 issue of Canadian Family Physician.¹ As part of conservative management, the authors also recommend reducing caffeine consumption.¹ As a nutrition scientist, I am surprised because there is no supporting empirical scientific evidence for the commonly advocated restriction of caffeine for tinnitus patients.²

Dietary changes are also named as a management strategy in the case resolution of the article.¹ However, there was still no well-founded review on the nutritional modifications that are repeatedly discussed among patients as well as doctors. I would like to point out the following: In the March 2019 issue of the Australian Journal of General Practice, my article titled “Do dietary factors significantly influence tinnitus?” was published.² It would be desirable for family physicians and Canadian Family Physician readers to refresh their knowledge on the relationship between dietary changes and tinnitus management in this first review article. The few published studies on the link between caffeine consumption and tinnitus are listed in the article.²